Zheng Tian

Zheng Tian (, 821? /825? –883? ), courtesy name Taiwen , formally Duke Wenzhao of Xingyang , was a Chinese politician and military commander of the late Tang dynasty who served twice as a chancellor under Emperor Xizong, from 874 to 878 and again from 881 to 883, and played a crucial role in the dynasty's resistance to the cataclysmic Huang Chao Rebellion. Zheng was also an accomplished man of letters, and his qijue poem "On Mawei Slope" was included in the Qing-era anthology Three Hundred Tang Poems.

The son of a prominent political figure, Zheng enjoyed early success in the imperial examinations and entered public service at a young age. After his father's political faction fell from favor, he was blacklisted for years and only returned to office in the 860s, after forming an association with the respected statesman Liu Zhan. Zheng secured influential court postings during Liu's brief tenure as chancellor, earning a reputation as a talented edict drafter and military strategist. He remained loyal to Liu when the latter fell from power and was in turn banished from court, but was rehabilitated during the reign of Emperor Xizong and made a chancellor in 874. Although Zheng enjoyed the young emperor's respect, he was marginalized at court by his cousin and fellow chancellor Lu Xie and, following a dispute with Lu, was removed from the chancellorship in 878. Zheng was later appointed as military governor of Fengxiang Circuit, west of the imperial capital of Chang'an. In 881, when Huang Chao's rebel army forced Emperor Xizong to flee to Chengdu, Zheng remained resolutely loyal to the dynasty and was tasked by the emperor with rallying loyalist resistance in the capital region. Relying on his personal wealth, he organized a viable fighting force at Fengxiang Circuit and inflicted a surprise defeat on rebel forces sent to subdue him. Zheng subsequently participated in an unsuccessful military operation to retake the capital and, following a mutiny, rejoined the emperor in Chengdu and was made a chancellor once again. He was forced into retirement in 883, following disputes with the influential court eunuch Tian Lingzi, and died of illness shortly thereafter.

Background and early career Assuming that Zheng Tian died in 883, he might have been born in either 821 Zheng Shaolin, as well as Zheng Tian's grandfather Zheng Mu and Zheng Tian's father Zheng Ya , all passed the imperial examinations in the Jinshi class,

During Emperor Xizong's reign

Before and during first term as chancellor After Emperor Yizong died in 873 and was succeeded by his young son Emperor Xizong, (The disagreement between Zheng and Lu was despite the fact that they were cousins, as their mothers were sisters to each other, both daughters of the official Li Ao

In 878, Zheng and Lu had another major dispute—over whether a Tang princess should be sent to Dali to marry Dali's emperor Longshun to end the war between the two states, as proposed by the general Gao Pian. Lu supported the marriage proposal, while Zheng opposed. As they argued, the dispute became so vehement that Lu threw an inkstone onto the ground, breaking it. When Emperor Xizong heard about this, he commented, "When the great officials curse each other like this, how can they govern the other officials?" As a result, both Zheng and Lu were removed from their chancellor posts and given the entirely honorary titles as advisors to the Crown Prince (there being no crown prince at the time), and they were both further sent to the eastern capital Luoyang. They were replaced with Doulu Zhuan and Cui Hang.

Meanwhile, though, when Zheng returned to Fengxiang, the Fengxiang army was fearful of an attack by Huang, and thus there were murmurs that Zheng should submit to Huang. Huang, who had declared himself the emperor of a new state of Qi, further sent emissaries to Fengxiang to declare a general pardon (i.e., to pardon Zheng and the Fengxiang forces for resisting him). Zheng refused to meet with Huang's emissaries, and instead entered a pledge with the soldiers to defend Tang. At that time, many of the imperial guard soldiers could not catch up with Emperor Xizong on his flight to Chengdu, and Zheng summoned them to Fengxiang to have them join his army, spending his own personal wealth to placate them. When Huang further sent his general Wang Hui to Fengxiang to try to persuade Zheng to submit, Zheng had Wang beheaded. Thereafter, Emperor Xizong bestowed the Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi title on Zheng again, as an honorary title, and made him the overall commander of Tang forces in the Chang'an region. His son Zheng Ningji was made the prefect of Peng Prefecture (彭州, in modern Chengdu), and Zheng was sent to Peng Prefecture to recuperate from an illness that he was apparently having at the time. He died soon thereafter.